In Loving Memory

Ernest Leon King III

Celebrate the life of Ernest Leon King III with his family and friends.

Lee’s Vision

Like the peoples of countless tribes and ages before me who came to these mountains seeking visions, I came on my own vision quest, seeking a deeper understanding of life's meaning and purpose.

Surrounded by silence and the timeless flow of nature, I sensed an infinite expansiveness within my being. It enfolded me as stood on the crown of the continent watching the deep crimson hues of sunrise play upon the towering summits of rock and ice before me. Suddenly the whole vast panorama shifted, became porous, transparent, slowly revealing another dimension of itself: a delicate latticework of interwoven energy patterns, wrought of the finest filigree. The mountains, the sunrise, the storm-dark sky, the hawk soaring above were all still there, but somehow transfigured, as through a veil had been drawn aside. The whole scene had come alive, with a depth and clarity of presence previously unknown to me. I realized quite clearly that I was seeing through surface appearances to the inner structure of reality behind forms and events. This was the essential world beneath the magnificent mask of nature, the timeless cosmic "blueprint" from which the physical world as we know it takes form.

A crystalline note of absolute purity rang forth from the heart of the world, weaving these energies into planetary fabric before my eyes: chemical elements, geological epochs, natural rhythms, storms and seasons, then blossoming into the incredible life and awareness of the biosphere around me and within me. I was at the very center of this sphere of being, completely at one with the Earth. I saw the planet as a single living entity encompassing all experience. I recognized this entity as my own larger Self: I was the Earth become conscious of itself, experiencing itself through my awareness.

That crystalline-pure note now grew into a chorus of tones, swelling joyously as it echoed from pass to pass along the rugged slopes and ridges around me until it became one with all the familiar sounds and silences of the fading darkness. Emerging from the shadows of primeval forests and valleys, hymn of creation rose triumphant in the morning mists: “The Universe is alive! Joy to the world!"

In the rapture of that moment the gates of eternity swung open before me.

Then the Guardian of the gate came forth, a magnificent being of light. She held lightning bolts brighter than the midday sun, and spoke to me wordlessly, mind to mind. "Take these, Love and Wisdom, that you may truly see!" And with joyous magic, she spun from them a vessel full of stars, which she presented to me. Instantly, I found myself in the center of the Universe, looking out from the very heart of creation.

The entire cosmos danced before my eyes, a shimmering web of living light. I looked from galaxy to galaxy, strewn like flowers across the fields of time. At their roots, unseen, I sensed the nourishment of a Love unbounded, an infinite artistry forming all things. I felt an immense Presence enfolding me. I looked again, and I was the stars, they were part of me, a great primordial creativeness welling up from the innermost depths of my own soul. I was all things, one all-inclusive cosmic Being, breathing in and out through the vast, eternal cycles of life, death and rebirth moving through the world. I was the very pulse, the heartbeat of creation. Everything was part of my own body, an all-embracing universal Self residing at the very core of creation, imperceptible to ordinary ways of knowing.

In the beauty of that moment, I saw more than words can say, experiencing a depth of awareness beyond speech or thought. I saw that reality as we know it is an illusion, a mere fraction of a larger truth. Behind this constantly changing facade of matter is an eternal realm that transcends death and dissolution. At this deeper level of reality, there is only everlasting Life, composed of endless cycles of experience exquisite threads of spirit, life and mind woven in and out through time and the living fabric of eternity.

Everything, everywhere was alive and vibrant with energy-intense rhythms of color, light and music, flowing from life to life in great symphonic currents of indescribable beauty and power. Worlds within worlds stretched beyond touch. I sensed an unimaginable vastness, a fullness, a maturity beyond comprehension into which humanity was slowly growing. And I knew that we would travel all these pathways, enter all these unseen portals of space and time until one day we, too, stood at the gate, a host.

Then the Guardian appeared once more, saying: ".All that you have seen is without end. Just as the cells in your body are composed of living beings joined in a common effort to create a larger Self, so you are but a cell in the life of the Earth, and your entire solar system a cell in the life of the galaxy.

The Universe itself is but a single cell in an infinitely larger Life that goes on forever, throughout eternity.

"There are magnificent beings inhabiting every level of existence, from microcosm to macrocosm. Yet everything, on every level, is connected to everything else. Everything is part of a larger life, a larger Self. Everything is alive, and everything is sacred. The immortal spirit that lives within you is but one personality-aspect of an infinite Creative Spirit, expressing itself through the lives of all worlds and beings in every dimension of space and time. This present life you are living is but one note in a song of endless beauty resonating through countless destinies. You shall know them all, and a perfection to wondrous for words.

Above all Lee will be remembered by family and friends for his loving spirit, wisdom, and steadfast caring for all life and this planet.